This is no carefully crafted masterpiece of comedy. The plot line is ridiculous, the performances are no more than enactments of stereotypes. But still the gags come thick and fast. They center around Bob Hope, who plays Bob Hope, the greedy libidinous sniveling cowardly liar. And he's just about at his peak here, even though the humor depends a good deal on his running from room to room in a disguise or making one-line wisecracks offhandedly. The gorgeous Lenore Aubert tells him something like, "I know it is true, because I feel it here." She places her fingertips on her breast. Hope glances down and mutters, "Oh. There." But Hope gets some cracking good support in this movie too. What a trio of enemy goons -- Otto Preminger, Eduardo Cianelli, and Philip Ahn -- an axis of evil, so to speak. Hope is disguised as a dummy at a health and grooming resort while the meanies are holding a meeting and discussing their strategy for destroying the world. One thug's ability to kill instantly by throwing a knife is challenged and he insists on demonstrating his skill. Okay. Preminger points to "Dzah dummy dzere -- on dzah bicycle." (Hope.) "Pierce dzah dommy sqvarely between dzah eyes." The way Preminger draws out that looooong vowel sound in "pierce", the ominous threat behind that uvular "r", you've gotta love it.
One of the funniest scenes in the movie has Donald Meek playing a madman who believes he is ferreting out Yankee spies during the Civil War. (I told you, the plot is rather loose.) Well worth catching, Palsy Walsies.
One of the funniest scenes in the movie has Donald Meek playing a madman who believes he is ferreting out Yankee spies during the Civil War. (I told you, the plot is rather loose.) Well worth catching, Palsy Walsies.